Women: Staying Connected this Summer Online

Females Keep up with Friends & Family via the Web

Women’s share of household spending is 80%, giving them control over about $1.7 trillion annually in the US. That means marketers pay attention to where women will be and what messages they will pay attention to.

Their top internet priority this summer will be connecting with family and friends (76%), according to ad server Unicast. About two-thirds of women also planned to keep up with the news and shop for sales. The sites women are most likely to visit include search engines (75%), shopping sites and social networks (both 60%).

Asked what kinds of ads would get through to them, the top choice was online advertisements with money-saving offers.

Purpose of visit varies by site

Research from BabyCenteris another reminder that “social” is not a simple answer to reaching women online. The online moms surveyed in March 2010 indicated they had different uses for different types of social media. Facebook was seen as primarily for socializing, while mothers turned to mommy bloggers and niche social sites like BabyCenter itself when they were looking for useful info or product recommendations.

The women surveyed by Unicast were overwhelmingly interested in using the web to connect with friends and family, but if that translates to a focus on “socializing”-oriented sites like Facebook they may be less open to marketing messages at the same time